Ain’t nothin’ gonna break my stride

My final marathon-related post (for now at least – I have to do something with the shots I took afterall!) is once again from the 18 mile marker, but a different style of image to the previous ones I posted, taking advantage of the strong sunlight that was shining on the morning of the race.  For this shot, I was able to use it to create a strong backlight as part of what became essentially a two-light setup to light this shot.  Two lights, but still only one light source.

The first light is that strong hard back light.  It is hard because it is from a small, far away source (the sun) and the further away and the smaller a light source, the harder the light.  Hardness or softness in terms of light really relates to the transition between lit and unlit areas (and so how defined the edges of the shadows are).  You can see from the shadows of the runners in the foreground that the back light is hard light – those shadows have clearly defined edges.

The second light is much softer fill light, and it is allowing us to see some detail in the camera-facing side of the runners.  This light is not a hot-shoe mounted flash, nor an off camera flash near the camera – both of these would also be hard light sources and would create shadows of the runner’s arms on their bodies.   Neither is it a much softer larger artificial light source such as a shoot through umbrella or a softbox.  The same fill light that is lighting the camera-facing side of the shadows is also throwing some light into the camera facing side of the archway, which is receiving no light directly from the sun, and it would be impossible to light both of those elements with a single softbox or umbrella.

In fact, the second soft light is also from the sun, but it is the diffused ambient light that is filtering through the clouds and bouncing all around the scene.  Because the sky is not entirely clear, but has clear patches, in this case the sun is acting both as a hard light source (via it’s direct light – my backlight here) and a soft light source (via it’s diffused light through the clouds – my fill light).

I, obviously, have no control over the sun when I am taking this shot, but I do have control over the exposure I use and, to some extent, the position of the camera relative to the subject relative to the sun.

Before the runners ever arrive into the frame I expose the frame to keep detail in the stone on the bridge (not under the arch – I let this fall darker as it is in open shade).   Without anything between me and the sun it is, naturally, blown out completely and my test shot has lots and lots of flare.  But if I time it right so that a runner is blocking that direct path, the sun will back light the runner and kill much of the flare, and my exposure should still give enough detail in the shaded side of the runner.

As it turns out, three runners arrive at once, and it is some good luck that the front two are at the exact same stage of their stride, with the third pretty much in sync too.

In post-processing very little needs to be done, as I am happy to live with the blown out sky.  I just bump up the contrast and light the shadow areas slightly to add a hint of more detail in there.

You’ll also probably have noticed my use of the fisheye lens – distinguishable by the curve of the road.  This was just to allow me to get low to the ground for a more dynamic angle, while also including some of the spectators in the scene.

So there you have it – no artificial light sources and yet I can employ a two light setup to give a nicely balanced image.  Sometimes shooting into the sun is a good thing to do.